Darcy Schmidt Design

"Pornaroid S.E.X. 69 Camera" at Strut Your Stuff II

"Pornaroid S.E.X. 69 Camera" Darcy Schmidt © 1997 foam rubber, mixed fibres

The Pornaroid S.E.X. 69 Camera was constructed for a performance event called Strut Your Stuff II at SAW Gallery in Ottawa in 1997. Like all of my earlier costumes it was sewn entirely by hand - no machine sewing on this baby! Of course it took forever to construct, as it's really difficult to push a needle through a few layers of fabric and 1" foam rubber... Strut Your Stuff II was cabaret style and had a bar so everyone was well lubricated and ready for some fun. My performance was interactive and audience participatory. That's how I like 'em! The pitch I used with this outfit was that it was the "PORNaroid S.E.X. 69"(get it? get it?) - predecessor to the "Polaroid SX 70" and way hotter... The really spectacular feature about this camera was that by carefully positioning a "subject's" head in relation to the camera lens it would record the subject's fantasy, and produce a textual print-out of it. The camera lens was strategically placed at crotch level, and a willing subject had to get down on all 4's and stick their head way in to the lens (there was a barrier between me and the subject). Anyway they had to keep their head there good and long while the "camera" gyrated around a bit and the audience hooted and hollered 'cause it all looked quite rude, I guess. Anyway, at the appropriate moment I "shat" out their pornographic "fantasy" from the "tripod mount" at the rear of the camera (see image at top right) and read it aloud to the audience. I had pre-prepared these and written them on toilet paper. I hadn't pre-selected my subjects (3 in all) so whoever came up on stage with me got whatever rude fantasy I had thought up on my own. It was all kinda cheesy but loads of fun because of it. You can read all about "Strut" in a press clipping from the Ottawa XPRESS. The only other time this outfit was worn in public was by Robb Canon at Black Tie 2 Bondage II. It was dismantled and its bulky foam rubber core used for packing material in 1999 when I decided to leave Ottawa for the winter and I put my stuff in storage. I kept the "camera flash" headdress, though, 'cause it ROCKS and is totally portable.

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